Dented rim advice

So, barreling down Polk 100 road off the Talimena Scenic Highway in the Ouachita National Forest, I hit a good sized rock at a pretty big clip. Launched the front end pretty good, managed to ride it out to a safe stop. Bike seemed fine, no wobble in the front end so I started back up and took it a little easier the rest of the way.

Leaving Polk 100, I headed to AR 8 towards Mena when the front end started feeling a little heavy.

I managed to find a safe spot where (I swear to God I only added my repair bag to help balance the weight in the panniers) I could air up the tire with my portable compressor. This was just a simple overnight and was thinking I didn't need to bring it, Glad I did.

A few miles later, I pulled into a gas station and did a more thorough examination of the front rim than I had conducted on the trail and I noticed that the front rim has a pretty noticeable dent.

Using their super compressor, I managed to air the tire back up, and since then it's managed to hold air for the last hour or so, but, not sure if it is safe enough to ride home, about 200 miles or so, without killing myself. The only person I know with a truck is 360 miles away and all the uHaul places are closed on Sundays. So, yeah, hence the advice.

I cannot feel a wobble or distortion in the way the bike handles, so, I don't think the wheel has been 'knocked out of round', and if it starts to go flat, I can always air it up again and limp it home. As long as it is relatively safe to do so.

So, whose got tidbits to share on how I can fix the wheel, permanently once I get home, and, if possible, temporarily here in Mena and, get home without injuring myself.

i have repaired a lot of cast streetbike wheels and some offroad spoke rims by using a big sledge hammer and pieces of wood. not too hard to get them back to normal. if you do happen to crack one then its time for a new rim.

Cast/tubeless and it's held air this long, probably fine forever. I've had a couple flaired spots on one bike for the last 70k miles or so.

When was the last time you checked air BEFORE getting the ding?

post pictures?

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I checked the pressure before I left this morning, but, was the ding there prior? Hard to say, but, I seriously doubt it. I had gone done a few other back roads today, and the aforementioned spot I hit was the only one I remember being such that I remembered it and made a point to stop.

The link above shows the ding in the rim, but, only on one side. The rim is like that on both sides (although a little bit prominent on the side shown.)

As long as it will get me home safe, I'm fine with it having a little 'flare' - adds character, no?

All of these suggestions above are just gonna result in a cracked rim. If it's tubeless, then you might end up making things worse. To bend it back properly, you need a vise and a torch, not a hammer, wood, or a c-clamp.

Honestly, from your pic, it doesn't look bad. The bead might be sealing just fine. If it is tubeless and you don't want a rapid decompression during a R-hand curve (aka crash), I'd advise putting a tube in there.

I'm not responsible for anyone but myself in saying this, but I have beaten dents out of my Cast rims of my Versys a half a dozen times now w/a sledge and a piece of hardwood.

My repairs have never been good enough that it was imposible to detect where they have been ,but they have not cracked [checked w/dye], and they do not wobble, shimmy, or shake at any speed.

After the first time, I have not made it a special task since, to remove the tire to bend it back. I now wait until the tire needs replaced to do it.

I just noticed yesterday that I now have another one up front.

Here's some pics of the first one that happened shortly after buying this bike. It was just bad enough to feel a slight shimmy, but I was on a trip and lived w/it for hundreds of miles.

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yea about 8 years ago i was doing a lot of supermoto conversions with the honda cbr f3 wheels and was buying dented ones for cheap and straightening them out for myself. i got so good at it you couldnt tell it was ever damaged. i even had a jig i made to hold the wheel and true them.

I bent both wheels on my Wee this summer and I had them fixed by MC Wheel in NH.

Noah at MCWheel was great to work with. I've read plenty of reports of guy fixing themselves but I wasn't willing to try it.
I would be concerned about bending them without some heat.

I did ride with my bent wheels for about two weeks and they never lost any air. The tire wear during those two weeks suggested the balance was very bad. I couldn't believe the amount of wear that occurred over that two week period.

This. If the flair on the wheel flange is only on one side, support and spread the force on the good side with a plate of 3/4" plywood. Use a small bit of wood on the bent flange to keep the clamp from marring it and to provide a bit of traction for the set-up.